Research Summer Student 2026

Union: Non-Union 
Number of Vacancies: 1
New or Replacement: New
Site: Toronto General Hospital
Department: Cardiology
Reports to: Dr. Jay Udell
Hours: 35 hours per week
Salary: $17.60 - $20.91 per hour
Shifts: Monday to Friday
Status: Temporary Full Time
Closing Date: February 27th, 2026

Position Summary:

This hospital-based summer studentship will immerse 1–2 students in a clinically grounded research project at the intersection of cardiovascular medicine, medical education, and artificial intelligence. Students will work alongside clinician-investigators to evaluate how the quantity and quality of clinical prompt details influence guideline-concordant heart disease treatment recommendations generated by three leading generative AI chatbots: ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. 

Students will interview clinicians across the training spectrum (medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings with ≥10 years’ experience) and shadow them in outpatient and inpatient settings to capture real-world clinical reasoning. The placement emphasizes experiential learning, ethical evaluation of AI in healthcare, and rigorous data collection aligned with contemporary cardiovascular guidelines. 

By the end of the placement, students will be able to: 

• Understand current clinical practice guidelines for common cardiovascular conditions and therapies. 
• Describe how clinicians at different levels of training formulate and communicate clinical recommendations. 
• Assess the impact of prompt detail (structure, completeness, and clinical nuance) on AI-generated medical recommendations. 
• Critically evaluate the safety, validity, and limitations of generative AI tools in clinical decision support. 
• Apply principles of qualitative interviewing, observational research, and comparative analysis. 
• Develop foundational skills in clinical research ethics, data management, and knowledge translation. 

Duties:

• Curate dataset of clinician-generated prompts stratified by training level and clinical context. 
• Comparative analyses of AI-generated recommendations versus current cardiovascular guidelines. 
• Provide a summary report describing the relationship between prompt detail and guideline concordance across AI platforms. 
• Provide an abstract suitable for submission to a national or international medical, cardiology, or medical education conference. 
• Contribute to a manuscript draft targeting a peer-reviewed journal in cardiovascular medicine, digital health, or medical education. 
• Present a final oral or poster presentation to hospital or academic stakeholders. 

• Undergraduate or early graduate students in health sciences, medicine, biomedical sciences, engineering, computer science, or related fields. 
• Strong interest in clinical medicine, cardiovascular disease, artificial intelligence, or health services research. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with comfort interacting with clinicians at all career stages preferred
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail preferred
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary clinical research team preferred 
• Prior exposure to clinical environments, research methods, or data analysis is an asset but not required. 
• Willingness to comply with hospital policies, including confidentiality and research ethics training an asset
• Availability to participate in clinical shadowing in both inpatient and outpatient settings an asset

Why join UHN?

In addition to working alongside some of the most talented and inspiring healthcare professionals in the world, UHN offers a wide range of benefits, programs and perks. It is the comprehensiveness of these offerings that makes it a differentiating factor, allowing you to find value where it matters most to you, now and throughout your career at UHN.

• Competitive offer packages
• Government organization and a member of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP https://hoopp.com/)
• Close access to Transit and UHN shuttle service
• A flexible work environment
• Opportunities for development and promotions within a large organization
• Additional perks (multiple corporate discounts including: travel, restaurants, parking, phone plans, auto insurance discounts, on-site gyms, etc.)

Current UHN employees must have successfully completed their probationary period, have a good employee record along with satisfactory attendance in accordance with UHN's attendance management program, to be eligible for consideration.

All applications must be submitted before the posting close date.

UHN uses email to communicate with selected candidates.  Please ensure you check your email regularly.

Please be advised that a Criminal Record Check may be required of the successful candidate. Should it be determined that any information provided by a candidate be misleading, inaccurate or incorrect, UHN reserves the right to discontinue with the consideration of their application.

UHN is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive recruitment process and workplace. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process. Applicants need to make their requirements known.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.